Instalation 04
by rekindledYearning
Summary: Halo with OCs. Not much more to say
1. Pillar Of Autumn

A strange, ring shaped world drifts in space, next to a red gas giant, various climates visible on different parts of it

A strange, ring shaped world drifts in space, next to a red gas giant, various climates visible on different parts of it. A single steel colored ship drifts by, barely visible against the black vacuum of space. The words Pillar of Autumn are visible along the side, and a single glass window is the only part of the ship not colored steel. Two fire control officers sit in their stations, looking outside through the glass window into space. While risky, placing the bridge at the front of the ship provided the crew with better view, and therefore they can make better decisions. A single man stands behind another pane of glass, showing various routes and data. He is visibly old, around his mid-fifties. He wears a simple grey uniform with a Captain's insignia pinned to the front, along with various medals.

A row of holopanels line the wall behind him, each projecting a different AI, all colored a cool blue, showing that despite the situation, they were all calm. The man turns to face the holograms, distress visible on his face. He looks towards the first one, projecting the figure of a soldier, wearing standard marine armor. "All I need to know, is did we lose them?"

The AI sighs, looking past the Captain and at the screen showing the current data. "I think we both know the answer to that."

The Captain shakes his head. "We made a blind jump, how did they-"

"Get here first?" The AI interrupts, reading the captain's expression. "The Covenant ships have always been faster, as for tracking us all the way from reach, at light speed, my maneuvering options were limited."

The captain turns away from them, and begins pacing the deck. "We were running dark, yes?"

Another AI, the figure of a wolf, cuts in sarcastically. "You're forgetting the giant hole we made when we jumped."

The First glares at the wolf AI, and continues. "He means, until we decelerated, no one could have missed the hole we tore in slipspace." The captain pauses, leaning down and examining one of the crewman's screens. "They were waiting for us on the far side of the planet, that gas giant." The crewman taps a few buttons, and a beeping sound begins coming from the screen.

"So where do we stand?" The captain asks, standing up and walking back towards the holopanels.

A dragon shaped AI begins speaking. "Our fighters are mopping up the last of their recon group now, but I'm detecting multiple battle groups approaching, make it 3 capital ships per group. And in about 90 seconds, they'll be all over us."

"That's it then, bring the ship up to combat alert alpha, I want everyone at their battle stations."

The first AI looks at the captain, his face serous, although showing a small amount of anticipation. "Everyone, sir?"

"Everyone." He says, and various crewmen begin running to their stations. "And give our old friends a warm welcome."

In the main hold of the Pillar of Autumn, a marine on the top floor waves blue light batons to guide a pelican dropship into place. On the bottom deck, Marine's begin talking, readying weapons, prepping tanks and jeeps, or just loitering, until a soldier with a Sergeant Chevron walks past them. A female voice comes over the loudspeakers, directing people to their positions and alerting them to report to their stations. The sergeant barks out "You heard the lady, move like you got a purpose!"

Several marines snap to attention, making two rows. The Sergeant walks between the row, then spins around at the end of it. "Men, keep your eyes downrange, fingers on your triggers, and we'll all go home in one piece. Am I right marines?"

The marines answer in unison, obviously looking forward to fighting. "Sir Yes Sir!"

The sergeant cracks a smile, as the marines brake ranks and run out of the small room they were in, up a large ramp and into the main hold. "Mmm-hmm, damn right I am." He follows the marines, walking instead of running. As he reaches the top of the ramp, he loads his assault rifle. "All you Greenhorns who wanted to see the covenant up close, this is your lucky day."

In one of the cryobays, a raised observation platform looking down on the room, two techs look at a single computer screen. The Characters

X - CORTANA 1 0 CRYOSTOR. 23.4.7  
(PRIORITY ALPHA)

UNSEAL THE HUSHED CASKET

Appear on the screen, and the first tech gasps. "Whoa."

The second nods, and begins typing. "Right, let's thaw them out." The first tech runs into a corridor and out of sight, and the second looks up. "Okay, bringing low level systems online. Cracking the cases in thirty seconds. They're hot! Blowing the pins in 5….." The tech that had left earlier walks into the cryobay, in front of a row of cryotubes. Each holds a different armored figure, most wearing green colored armor, but one wearing black. Steam hisses from the side of the tubes.

The tech in the observation bay looks down at them. "Tubes show green, cycle complete." The cryotubes hiss and the panel covering them raises up. "All vitals look normal, no freezer burn. Alright, you guys can climb out of the cryotubes." Roaven, the Black armored Spartan grips the sides of his tube and pulls himself up, then climbs over the side. He removes his helmet and inhales deeply, glad to get some fresh air. He has Black, spiked hair and green eyes. The others do the same, each climbing out of their tubes and looking around. Max, one of the Spartans wearing green armor, removes his helmet, revealing his shaggy brown hair and blue eyes. Kurioto, identifiable by the spikes on his shoulder armor, chooses not to remove his helmet, staying silent and watching the others. Ariel, the only female of the group, also chooses not to, looking at the tech.

The tech stands in awe for a moment, then regains his composure. He opens his mouth to speak, but the captain's voice comes over the loud speaker. "Bridge to Cryo 2, this is Captain Keyes. Send the Master Chief to the bridge immediately."

The Tech hits his com. "But Captain, we'll have to skip the weapons diagnostic and-"

"On the double, crewman!"

"Aye aye sir." He says reluctantly, then turns to the Spartans. "Skipper seems jumpy, we better get moving. Well find your weapons later" He turns again and calls up to the observation room. "You better get to your evac group Sam!"

"Right! I just have to reset the diagnostics and I'm out of here." A pounding noise comes over the closed door to his left. "Oh god, they're trying to get through the door! Security! Intruders in cryo 2! The door explodes open and an elite, a biped figure clad in blue armor, with 4 mandibles for a jaw and slightly hunched over, runs in and shoots sam in the chest. Sam falls to the ground and reaches for the picture of his wife, who he hadn't seen in 3 years due to the war. The Elite pins his arm to the ground and looks at the picture, tilting his head to the side wondering why it was so important to him. He raises his plasma rifle and shoots sam with a shot to the head, killing him.

"Sam! Sam! Come on, we've got to get the hell out of here!" The crewman says, a small amount of panic in his voice. The Spartans replace their helmets and run after the crewman, who opens one of the two doors out of the bay. "This way!" He runs down the hallway, and a door at the end begins to open, but an explosion in the room beyond it kills the tech, flinging his body a few feet down the hallway.

"Come on, we'll go this way." Max says, pointing out a pipe that was in between the cryobays hallways. They each jump over it and run down the hallway adjacent to the other cryobay, dodging explosions as they went. The room that they were originally going towards before the tech was killed had several wires swinging around, as well as a fire in it. They turn and crouch under a half sealed bulkhead, where a plasma charge kills a tech. The bulkhead on their left begins to close, sealing away several covenant borders.

They continue moving the other way, where three techs are running out of a different room past a bulkhead, pursued by covenant troops. One of the techs is hit in the back by a plasma bolt and killed, and another makes it through the bulkhead. The slower one behind him calls out "Wait for me!" Trying to make it before the bulkhead begins closing. A plasma charge goes off, killing him, and the bulkhead begins closing, sealing away more of the covenant. The group of Spartans continue on, moving through a narrow hallway where a door slides open, revealing a covenant elite. A hail of assault rifle fire barrages it, and it retreats behind another door which locks behind it. Two marines run past the Spartans, guarding the locked door. As they continue on, they come across another group of crewmen behind a makeshift barricade, firing at covenant behind yet another closing bulkhead. A single marine was firing his assault rifle at the same target, lending some much needed firepower to the crewman's efforts.

After the bulkhead seals the marine turns to the group of Spartans. "Captain wants you on the bridge ASAP, better follow me." With that, he turns and leads them through another room, full of wounded Marines, and past another fight, were a crewman is killed by a plasma charge and the bulkhead begins to seal. The Marine leads them to an area that leads into the bridge. "Captain Keyes is waiting for you."

The Spartans walk onto the bridge and approach the glass screen where captain Keyes is standing. The Captain turns to face them. "Good to see you all. Things aren't going well. Your AIs did their best, but we never really had a chance."

Shiro, the human AI, cuts in. "A dozen covenant superior battleships against a single Halcyon class cruiser. Given those odds I'm still content with three……make that four kills. So Roaven, sleep well?"

"No thanks to your driving, yes."

Shiro smirks. "So you did miss me." A loud explosion rocks the ship, making the captain and Spartans grip the wall to avoid falling over.

"Report!" Captain Keyes calls, climbing to his feet again.

Shiro puts his hand against his forehead, thinking. "Must have been one of their boarding parties, I'd guess an Anti-matter charge."

One of the fire control officers turns to face the group. "Fire control for the main cannon is offline!"

Shiro grimaces. "Captain, that cannon was my last defensive option."

Keyes nods. "Alright then, I'm initiating Cole Protocol Article 2. We're abandoning the Autumn. That means all of you AI as well."

Takeshi, the wolf AI, cuts in. "While you do what, go down with the ship?"

"In a manner of speaking." The Captain muses, chewing on his pipe, due to the fact smoking on a bridge wasn't allowed. "That ring, I'm going to try to land the Autumn on it."

Dresden, the dragon AI, glares at the captain. "With all due respect, this war has enough dead heroes."

"I appreciate your concern, all of you, but it's not up to me. Protocol is clear. Destruction or capture of a shipboard AI is absolutely unacceptable, that's means you're all leaving the ship. Lock in a selection of emergency landing zones, upload them to my neural lace, and then sort yourself for a hard transfer."

All of the AI look at the captain, each other, then nod. "Yes Sir." Shiro says, and the others agree.

"Spartans, this is where you come in, get your AI off of this ship, Keep them safe from the enemy, if they get a hold of them, they could learn everything. Troop deployment, weapons research, earth."

Shiro looks up, having finished his task. "The Autumn will continue evasive maneuvers until you initiate a landing sequence. Not that you'll listen, but I'd suggest letting my subroutines handle the final approach."

"Nice work, Thank you. Are you all ready?" The Captain asks.

"Right, do it." Shiro says, and the Spartans each walk to a holotank, minus Kurioto, and take their AIs data chip. Roaven takes Shiro's, Ariel takes Dresden's, and Max Takes Takeshi's. They each insert the data chip into a slot in their helmet, allowing their AI to talk to them, from inside their head in a manner of speaking. The Captain hands them each a sidearm, and they load them, running out of the bridge and into the mess hall, where a small skirmish was taking place. Kurioto begins picking off the grunts, small cowardly figures only kept in line by the elites, that carried methane tanks on their back and communicated in grunts and barks.

The other Spartans concentrate fire on the Elites, quickly finishing the skirmish. After reloading, they gather weaponry, Ariel and Roaven taking Assault rifles off of dead Marines, Kurioto staying with the scoped sidearm, the closest thing he had to a sniper rifle, and Max picks up a plasma rifle, testing it out against a wall to make sure it still worked. They Continue onward, clearing another group of covenant with concentrated fire and moving down an eerily quiet hallway. As they round a corner, they come upon a group of Marines fighting a single elite, who kept ducking in and out of an alcove.

Roaven creeps forward silently and smashes the butt of his assault rifle into the Elite's back, using his augmented strength. A sickening crack rings out, and the elite falls to the ground. One of the Marine spots the Spartans and gapes. "Wow, Mark Vs!" Another explosion rocks the ship, and one of the Marines looks around. "What the hell? Did something just hit us?"

Another marine nods. "Move in, Back to the Airlock!" The marines jog down a wide hallway to where two more Marines were standing guard beside an airlock. The Spartans follow, and a blue explosion rips open the door, killing the two marines standing beside it. Covenant troops poor out of the airlock, evidently using it to attach their boarding craft. Roaven drops down in a crouch and sprays bursts of fire at the advancing troops, while Max and Ariel fire over his head. Kurioto slides along beside them, firing nonstop. The marines lend their fire as well, and the attack is defeated.

The Group presses on through a narrow hallway, single file, where a group of plasma grenades detonate ahead, and the body of a tech is flung into the wall. Only a small contingent of covenant awaited them, and they defeat them with small bursts of fire. They see a group of marines ahead, and turn down a different hallway, flanking the group that the marines were suppressing. Max fires a full automatic barrage of plasma fire and yelps as two vents open up on the sides, as the rifle burns him, having overheated. He scoops it up again, now cooler, embarrassed.

They continue on, coming to the cryo observation room where Sam was killed. Roaven kneels down and places the picture of Sam's wife on Sam's chest, then looks down into the cryobay where several elites where. "Looks like the covenant wanted to catch you napping." Takeshi says over their coms, and they press on to a damaged section of the ship, where several explosions fill a hallway where an elite was waiting. Another group of explosions kill the rest of the covenant their, and they proceed cautiously through a group of maintenance access tunnels to where two techs were hiding. They quickly gun down the covenant, Max discarding his plasma rifle for a new one once it made a fizzling noise but no plasma bolts came out.

They move through another hallway to a group of stairs where a squad of marines is pinned by covenant on the landing above them. Kurioto and Roaven hang back, covering Max and Ariel as they advance and clear the upper floor. They advance with the Marines through another, wider hallway, with windows showing the space around them. They see three lifeboats launching, the third being destroyed by a covenant plasma beam. "They're destroying the lifeboats, they really don't want us on that ring." Shiro muses, and they continue on, killing a group of grunts with little difficulty.

The blast doors close behind them, separating them from the marines, so they cut through more maintenance access ways. Roaven rounds a corner and comes face to face with a grunt, firing full auto at point blank range. They step over the body and come across an opening, where a group of marines was combating more covenant. The door slides open and they attack the covenant from the side, pushing onward. They come across a pile of grenades, and prime and throw them into the only group of covenant separating them from the last lifeboat. The explosions rip apart the group of covenant, and they vault over the barrier, sprinting into the last lifeboat. They strap themselves into the rows of seats along the side, and Roaven sits in the pilots chair. Ariel hits the button in the back of the lifeboat, sealing the exit. "Punch it!" She calls, and Roaven begins tapping commands.

"Give me a minute to interface with the controls." Shiro says.

Roaven shakes his head. "No time, I'll take this thing down myself." The escape pod blasts out of the airlock, and flies away from the Pillar of Autumn. "Approaching minimum safe distance." The Lifeboat flies under the Autumn, as several plasma bolts begin to hit it."

Max looks down at the ring world as they fly towards it. "What is that thing?"

Roaven shakes his head. "Hell if I know. But we're landing on it."


	2. Halo

"We're coming in too fast

"We're coming in too fast!" Shiro calls as the lifeboat plummets towards solid ground.

Roaven struggles with the ships controls, rapidly tapping in commands. "I'm losing her! Airbrake failure, they blew too early. Brace for impact!" The lifeboat skims across a cliff, then plummets into a valley where it crashes, a few yards from a lethal drop into an ocean. Ariel unhooks the crash harness and climbs to her feet.

"Status!" Roaven climbs out of the pilot's seat, and the other Spartans climb out of their seats as well, exiting the lifeboat and regaining their composure. Roaven shakes his head, checking his gear.

"All the marines are KIA. Our primary weapons are toast too. We'll have to use the marine's assault rifles for now." The group begins scavenging what they can, taking ammunition, grenades, and weapons from the dead soldiers. Dresden accesses the Spartans channel, pausing for a moment.

"We've got multiple covenant dropships on approach, most likely looking for survivors. I recommend moving into those hills, if we're lucky, they'll think everyone aboard the lifeboat died in the crash." Kurioto walks towards a narrow, rust colored, two tiered bridge, the lower tier inaccessible without jumping, and tests it. With a quick hand motion, he beckons the others over, and they cross it single file, spreading out upon reaching the other side. "Alert, covenant dropship inbound! Keep moving or they'll detect us." A single covenant dropship, a tuning fork shaped craft with a plasma cannon on the back and troops riding in the 'prongs' of the ship. Two banshees, named because of the sound the air made when it hit their wings, flew around it, circling the valley.

A single covenant patrol approaches from the north, a single Minor elite, the lowest rank, followed by 4 grunts, walking along lazily, most likely moving to meet up with the dropship troops. Roaven crouches behind a boulder, while Ariel and Max take up positions behind two trees, giving them overlapping fields of fire on the patrol. Kurioto hangs back, one again clutching a sidearm, prepared to fire the first shot. The elite walks into view, followed by the grunts, and Kurioto opens fire, gunning down one of the grunts and pinging rounds off the elite's shield. Ariel and Max open fire, draining the elite's shields within seconds and shredding two of the grunts in a barrage of fire. Roaven fires on the grunt and turns his attention to the elite, firing in bursts.

The patrol defeated, the group quickly scavenges plasma grenades, tiny blue orbs that glow when activated and stick to people and vehicles. They drop down a small, 10 foot drop, and continue on, immediately spotting a covenant dropship around the next corner, the sounds of both plasma and ballistic weaponry revealing at least one survivor. The group silently advances, and as the dropship disappears from view, they see a group of marines stepping over the bodies of the covenant, scavenging weapons and grenades. Their friend or foe tags indicated them as Fireteam Charlie, and Max quickly introduces themselves over the com. "Fireteam Charlie, we have several Spartans with us and are inserting from the east, check your targets and confirm."

The marines immediately snap up, all directing their rifles towards the group as they step out of cover. One of them beckons to someone they couldn't see, and another Spartan descends from a strange structure behind the marines. "We have some time before more covenant show up, so let's talk. The top of the structure should do nicely." The Spartan says over the com channel. The marines continue to scavenge gear and the Spartans climb to the top of the facility quickly noting the two ramps, the only way up, and a bright blue beacon sort of thing that launched from an inaccessible area of the structure at regular intervals.

The Spartan removes his helmet, revealing brown hair and eyes. "Marknos, Fireteam Charlie. I was already out of cryo when the covenant started boarding the autumn, so I fought them off along with these marines until the order came to abandon ship. We found two techs and ditched, landing here. We've been lucky, those are the only covenant troops that have showed up so far."

Roaven removes his helmet as well, stepping forward. "Roaven, Fireteam Bravo. They're dead though. Airbrake failure, Killed in the landing. We're all Spartans now. Kurioto, Max, and Ariel." He says, point them out as he names them. "We'll stick with you guys until evac arrives."

"Alright, most likely they'll land a dropship as close as possible, but not too close as to be killed before hitting the ground. So probably north and south west of here, and then one behind us, where the one we just fought of landed. Marines! Fall back to the structure!" He calls then turns back to the Spartans. "Roaven and Max, you guys take north and south west respectively. Ariel and Kurioto, secure the east. I'll stay in the structure with the marines."

The Spartans split up and move to their positions, and a marine calls out on a public com channel. "Heads up, covenant dropship coming in!" A single dropship flies into view, landing near Roaven. The side doors open, and Roaven sweeps fire across the side he could see, eliminating the grunts and jackals, bird like figures that carried portable circular energy shields, before they could get out. The dropship lifts away and he kneels down, firing in bursts. He rips through an elites energy shield and guns him down, before taking out several grunts who were fleeing due to their leader being killed.

"Covenant dropship, on approach! I could use some help over here." The marine calls again, another dropship lowering by Max. Max sweeps the enemy formation, holding a captured plasma rifle in one hand and a handgun in the other. He tears through the grunts and brings down the elites shields in seconds with the plasma fire, finishing them off with handgun shots to the head. "Another bandit, dropping in behind us, they're trying to flank us!" The marine yells out, and right on cue, a third dropship lowers itself behind the facility. As soon as the ship takes off, Kurioto opens fire with his sidearm, picking off the grunts.

Ariel opens fire as well, concentrating fire on the elite to bring down its shield. As the shield flickers and dies, she hears a click, signifying her magazine being empty. She rolls out of the way as plasma fire blasts the bush she was just behind, lighting it on fire. She sprints at the elite, and knocks the plasma rifle out of its hands. The elite punches at Ariel, but she grabs his fist, blocking it. They both struggle to gain the upper hand while keeping the other from gaining an opening, both buying time while they thought. The elite pushes Ariel back and lunges back himself, drawing a plasma pistol. Ariel does the same with her sidearm. She was faster, or luckier, her sidearm clearing the holster first and punching a shot through the elite's helmet, killing it.

She picks up her assault rifle and reloads it, holstering her sidearm and looking to see Kurioto finishing off a pair of jackals. The familiar noise of the covenant dropship's engines roars to life and everyone looks skyward, seeing a pair of dropships lowering to the ground. Kurioto and Ariel jog to where Roaven and Max where, waiting for the ships to land. Instead of a bunch of grunts and one or two elites, a full load of elites, 14 per ship, disperses. The group opens fire at once, supported by long range fire from the marines. They easily take down around 8 of the elites, but then they start to be overwhelmed, Roaven and Max engaging in hand to hand combat with two elites.

A sniper bullet rips through an elites throat, stunning them all momentarily in shock. Another sniper shot penetrates a zealot's armor, a commander elite clad in gold armor, killing it and wounding another elite standing behind it. Roaven draws his sidearm and shoots the elite he was fighting and the wounded elite, then looks up at Marknos, holding a sniper rifle. Yet more elites emerged and the Spartans fell back to the facility where the marines where holding, as the elites regrouped and advanced. "This is pelican Echo 419, anybody reading me? I repeat, any UNSC personnel, respond."

One of the marines quickly responds, glad to be finally getting evac. "Roger Echo 419, this is Fireteam Charlie, that you Foehammer?"

"Roger that Fireteam Charlie, good to hear from you."

"We could use some help over hear, multiple hostiles approaching our location."

"Roger that, hang tight." A single pelican dropship appears over the cliffs surrounding the valley, and it swoops down towards the survivors, firing its front mounted chaingun. Clouds of dust kicked up as the bullets swept across the ground to their targets, making several sweeps until the remaining elites were killed or fatally wounded. The marines jog down the ramp on the side of the structure and towards the landing dropship, and the Spartans grab ammunition before jogging towards the dropship as well.

"Look, more lifeboats! I doubt the covenant are going to throw them a welcome to the ring world party, we should help them out." Takeshi says, looking up at the three lifeboats flying across the valley and disappearing from view. "Echo 419, can you spare your warthog? We're going to save some soldiers." The pelican dropship is able to carry a vehicle with magnetic clamps behind the troop bay. Foehammer releases the locks and the warthog falls to the ground, bouncing a little before settling into place.

"Roger that Charlie team, warthog deployed, saddle up and give 'em hell." The dropship takes off and flies over the cliffs and out of view. The Spartans get into the two warthogs, one they found overturned a short ways from there. The warthogs are jeep like vehicles, carrying a driver, passenger, and gunner. Roaven gets into the drivers seat of the first one, Kurioto gets in the gunners seat, and Max gets in the side seat. Marknos gets in the gunners seat of the second, while Ariel drives. They drive towards the only way they can see, a hill sloping down to the entrance of a metallic tunnel. As they approach the tunnel, Shiro accesses their com channel.

"This cave is not a natural formation, someone built it, so it must lead somewhere." He pauses. "I've hacked into the covenant battlenet, they're actually broadcasting tactical data on unencrypted channels. We should show them who they're dealing with. Roaven, I'm going to use your suit's transponder system to monitor their chatter." They drive into the tunnel and come across a small gap, that they drive down a ramp, around a corner, and up another ramp to jump it. The two warthogs pick up speed again, rocketing down a raised depression in the middle of a large room, dotted with unknown machinery and pillars. Ariel slides to a halt and lets Marknos begin firing on the grunts occupying the left side of the room. Roaven runs into an elite, instantly killing it, and slides to a halt in an area shielded on both sides by small walls. There was a large gap between this and the other side.

Roaven turns the warthog around, driving down the small ramp and into the unshielded raised area. Kurioto begins suppressing the covenant on the opposite side, killing them as soon as they left cover. Shiro speaks again. "Area clear, there has to be someway to cross that chasm, look around." Roaven dismounts and walks towards where Kurioto was firing, knowing that where Marknos was firing led to a steep drop most likely lethal. He moves along the far wall until he comes on a narrow ramp heading up. He walks up it cautiously and turns around the corner at the top, coming face to face with a major elite, clad in red armor. He recoils in surprise and fires his entire magazine point blank into the elite, killing it.

"Roaven, everything alright?" Marknos asks over the com. "We heard some weapons fire."

"Yeah, fine." Roaven says, exhaling a sigh of relief. He steps over the body and continue down the narrow hallway, which opens up a little, revealing a bright blue holographic panel. He examines the panel and reaches out, pressing his hand to a symbol that looked promising. Roaven looks up at the gap between the two sides, seeing a bridge seemingly made out of pure energy forming across it. He jogs back to the others and climbs back into the warthog, looking at the Lightbridge. "Here goes nothing." He mutters, driving the warthog across the bridge. He looks back and beckons for the others to come across, and they do.

They continue on, driving up and through the tunnel, emerging out into the open again, at the bottom of a hill. The warthogs ascend it with no difficulty, and the Spartans look around. Four paths led off from the valley in different direction, two leading to the same area. Roaven shrugs and drives off towards the farthest one, emerging in a smaller valley, a structure resembling the one from earlier jutting from the hillside. Ariel drives forward, running over a group of covenant and coming to a stop at the top of the hill. Roaven follows, while Kurioto fires nonstop at the covenant surrounding them. A marine approaches them, holding a sniper rifle."You're a sight for sore eyes Chief. We're in a bad way. We got wounded here."

"I'll call in a dropship to pick them up." Shiro says, as a covenant dropship lands at the bottom of the hill. Covenant storm the marine's position, but barely any of them make it through the warthog's chaingun fire. The marines make short work of the survivors, and Echo 419 descends into the valley. The marines climb into the dropship, loading the wounded men.

Echo 419 takes off, and talks into the com. "There's another lifeboat by a rockslide, and another, near the cliff edge, hard to see from my altitude, but it looks like there are more survivors." The Spartans rest for a minute before leaving the way they came, going towards the rockslide Foehammer point out. Suddenly, a green tinted explosion throws Roaven's warthog over, throwing all the Spartans free. Two banshees circle overheard, moving to strafe again. Marknos plays some music over his armor, inaudible to all but him, and begins firing at the banshees. The first one explodes, slamming into the other and causing them both to crash into the ground.

Roaven grips the side of his warthog and flips it back onto its wheels, and the others climb back in, moving towards the rockslide again. The two warthogs slide to a halt, looking at the mass of rocks above them. Shiro chimes in again. "Warning. I've picked up reports that the Covenant have located and secured the Pillar of Autumn's crash site. The good news is the Captain's still alive. The bad news is that the Covenant have captured the entire surviving command crew. Let's hurry and find the remaining lifeboats, so we can link up with the rest of the survivors. Wait, marines are concealed in those rocks." The Spartans dismount the warthogs, jogging up to meet the survivors.

A marine sniper, mounted on a large rock overlooking the area the Spartans came in on, calls down to them. "Contact! Covenant dropship, down there!" The Spartans raise their weapons, firing upon the advancing covenant troops. The marine sniper helps them, and they make short work of the covenant there.

"Echo 419 is on station, and ready for another pickup."

"Roger that Foehammer, we need immediate dustoff." Shiro responds. The pelican once again lowers into the valley and picks up the surviving marines, and the Spartans climb into the warthogs again, driving towards the cliff edge. They come upon a lifeboat, with supplies scattered everywhere in the center valley. Marknos jumps out and examines it.

"Lifeboats trashed, supplies and stuff everywhere, but where are the bodies?" He grabs another sniper and ammo and puts it on the warthog, climbing onto the turret again. They drive up a small incline, and skirmish with a group of jackals, then move into a Cliffside area, with another one of the structures in the middle and two smaller raised platforms, surrounded by thick pipes, around it. The Spartans dismount, Kurioto trading his sidearm for the sniper, and storm the center structure, their combined fire making short work of the elites and grunts occupying it. They take up positions around the top area of it, raining fire on the remaining covenant. Kurioto takes out 3 jackals, 4 grunts and an elite with the sniper rifle, and suddenly, marines appeared at the raised platforms. Apparently, the structure had a basement type area underground, the raised platforms had entrances to it, and the marines were underground fighting off the covenant.

"New traffic on the covenant battlenet! I've found Captain Keyes! He's being held on a Covenant cruiser, the Truth and Reconciliation, a ship I disabled before we abandoned the autumn. The Truth and Reconciliation touched down on a desert plateau, roughly three hundred kilometers upspin." Shiro says happily. Echo 419 flies in, landing at the Cliffside. The marines pile in. "There's our ride, get aboard and lets get out of here." The Spartans lower their weapons and climb aboard. "We should move out Lieutenant, and then we'll need your help on a rescue mission." Shiro says to Foehammer.


	3. Truth and Reconciliation

Two dropships swoop low towards a large desert valley, their forms almost concealed by the night

Two dropships swoop low towards a large desert valley, their forms almost concealed by the night. "Captain Keyes is being held on a covenant cruiser, the truth and reconciliation, a ship that was disabled before we abandoned the autumn. Its holding position roughly three hundred meters on the other end of this plateau." Cin, Marknos's AI begins. A marine interrupts.

"How do we get inside the ship if it's in the air? The Corp issued me a rifle, not wings."

"There's a gravity lift that ferries troops and supplies between the ship and the surface, that's our ticket in." A sergeant scolds him.

"Once we get inside the ship, I should be able to get a lock on the captain's neural implants." Cin continues, unphased.

The two dropships come to a halt and lower into the small, unoccupied valley. Marines dismount from one, and the group of Spartans from the other. Shiro analyzes the next area while the marines form a perimeter. ""Stick to the higher ground on the right. We should be able to recon the Covenant position without being spotted. I'm detecting Covenant stationary guns near the next pass. I recommend using your sniper rifles to eliminate the gunners while I call for Marine support." He switches to the radio. "Get ready to move in to support us, Sergeant. The Spartans are going to covertly take out as many of the Covenant as they can. Don't open fire until you hear the enemy return fire on us. That should let us keep the element of surprise."

The Spartans creep ahead to the next valley, looking ahead at the covenant's positions. There were several stationary turrets with overlapping fields of fire on the valley, which would be a deathtrap to the marines. A small raised area is to the right, offering an overview of the valley and a good vantage point. With a series of hand signals, they move into positions and load their rifles, steadying their breathing. With a single click of the com, the Spartans open fire, eliminating the turret gunners and the commanding elites. Flashlight beams sweep over the fleeing covenant, followed almost instantly by assault rifle bursts as the squad of marines puts the disorganized survivors to 'sleep'.

As the marines sweep the dead, checking to confirm the covenant soldiers are dead, the Spartans inch ahead across a narrow pathway, examining the position ahead. A single turret waits on a small raised hill, and several covenant patrol the area. The Spartans duck down, regrouping and deciding on the next course of action. Roaven looks around, picking up a plasma grenade and tossing it to Marknos. Marknos nods, arming the grenade and throwing it. The grenade sails through the air, sticking to the unfortunate gunner of the stationary turret. It detonates, taking the shade, 4 grunts, and an elite with it.

The squad of marines charges around the corner, firing at the remaining covenant soldiers. A hail of fluorescent pink needles shoot through the air, piercing through the sergeant's armor. He backpedals off the Cliffside, and a bright pink explosion lights up the night for a split second. A single marine crouches at the Cliffside and begins muttering a prayer, as the other soldiers walk away towards their objective. A buzzing sound comes from behind them, as an elite clad in grayish armor decloaks and impales the praying marine. It quickly disappears, and the hail of assault rifle fire aimed in its direction fail to find a target, disappearing harmlessly into the distance.

"Bastard." Another marine mutters, and his friend consoles him as they press onward. A single noise reaches the group, a pebble falling down the Cliffside. The Marines duck down, aiming their rifles at a narrow path against a cliff leading towards the next area. A covenant patrol appears around the corner, and Kurioto rests his sniper rifle on a small boulder, setting the crosshair on the elite at the front of the patrol. The grunts panic, one falling off of the narrow path, the others victim to the marine's barrage of weapons fire.

"Be careful, more covenant up ahead. It's a large valley with two hills looking over where we're coming from, and a single narrow rock bridge leading across. There's a depression under it that connects to a narrow path to the gravity lift's perimeter." Cin muses, as the Spartans and marines regroup. "Analyzing situation." Cin mutters, as the group huddles under one of the hills, a small natural ramp between it and the other hill being watched by a turret and an elite patrol. "I recommend Fireteam Charlie advances up the middle, supported by Max and Roaven. Ariel, take out that elite patrol when it next comes into view, and Marknos, get a frag on that turret above us. Kurioto, move along the left flank and take out any turrets pinning down Fireteam Charlie."

Kurioto nods, and sprints along the hills, moving into position and clicking his throat com. Marknos draws a grenade and Ariel unslings her sniper rifle, slamming a full clip into place. Max and Roaven join the marines and prepare to move out, checking their weapons. Marknos tosses the grenade, and the turret flips over, throwing its shrapnel filled gunner into the air. Ariel curses, shooting the elite patrol, and a spray of purple blood flies from its head as the round impacts.

The marines and Spartans sprint forward, up the ramp and across the bridge, the marines in front. The turret on the other side of the narrow bridge opens fire, the plasma rounds impacting the lead marine and causing him to falter, knocking a second marine off of the bridge. Several more marines are killed as a covenant dropship flies over the scene, firing a plasma torpedo at the troops on the bridge. It impacts and the bridge falls apart, throwing the soldiers on it into the shallow depression below. Ariel and Marknos sprint forward, firing, and a marine fires a missile tube at the turret, destroying it. The covenant dropship lifts off, having dispersed reinforcements, disappearing into the night. Max stumbles up from the wreckage, firing his assault rifle at the enemy.

The grunts and jackals fall before the fire, and Kurioto appears, still clutching the sniper. Ariel and Max dig Roaven out of the rubble, turning away from the mangled bodies and blood stains of Fireteam Charlie. Roaven angrily turns to Marknos, visibly angry despite his helmet. "What the fuck was that?! You were supposed to wait! You just got 8 marines killed! What in gods name possessed you to throw that grenade early?" He rounds on Kurioto. "And where the hell where you?! You should've taken out that turret before it massacred 5 of our soldiers! Why would you screw up like that?!" Marknos opens the com to speak, but Roaven cuts him off. "Fuck it, lets go."

The group advances into the next area, where the dark purple gravity lift lit up the canyon. The group takes out a few jackal sentries and then begins smashing the butt of their rifles into sleeping grunts back, avoiding the sight of the elite guards and turrets. Marknos draws a grenade, but Roaven yanks it from his grip, clipping it onto his belt and sniping a single elite guard and the turret gunner beside him. Max climbs into the empty turret and fires on the other positions, as allied reinforcements fly in, manning the empty shade turrets. Covenant come down the gravity lift, and the dropship's rear hatch gunner fire on them along with the marine controlled shades, while the Spartans rest.

One of the marines looks up at the ship, and mutters into his com. "Mother of God...I'd never thought I'd get close to one of these things. How the hell are we supposed to get inside that monster?"

"Like the sarge said before he bit the dust, through the grav lift." Another answers, firing on the next wave of enemy soldiers. Roaven examines his armor plating, shaking his head.

"How's the armor?" Shiro asks over the com.

"Shields are fried. Need to get a tech look at it." Roaven mutters, sliding the chestplate back into place and standing up. He looks around and walks towards the turret the marines were using to eliminate the covenant coming down the gravity lift. The turret opens up again, but a large, green tinted explosion knocks Roaven back a few feet as a pained scream came from where the turret and 3 other marines used to be. The survivors open fire, gaping as the rounds ping off of the newcomers armor. They were large and had blue armor on most of their body, other than their neck and their back, where orange flesh was exposed. A type of covenant weapon, similar to the secondary fire of the banshee aircraft, was mounted on its right arm, with a large, nearly impenetrable metal shield.

Ariel jumps to her feet along with the other Spartans. "We have to flank those things, hit their unarmored skin."

"Right." One of the marines responds. "You heard her ladies, Suppressive fire!" The marines begin spraying weapons fire at the Hunters, while the Spartans move around the back. Kurioto raises his sniper rifle and looks down the scope, firing a single round into the first hunter. It falls, and the other turns around, then cut down by the hail of assault rifle fire from the marines. "Secure the gravity lift, go, go, go!" The marine calls again, and they take up perimeter around the lift.

The Spartans walk into the gravity lift, and look upwards as they along with the marines are tugged off of the ground and lifted into the air, up towards the hatch that led into the ship. They hover off of the ground for a moment as the hatch closes again, then fall to the ships deck silently. "Strange. No covenant defenses detected."

Takeshi muses over this for a moment. "No matter, I have a lock on the captains CNI transponder."

A marine walks around the perimeter, looking around. "What, there are no covenant here? I think maybe nobody's home." Suddenly, covenant begin pouring out of the four smaller doors on the long side of the room, with the blast doors on the wide side remaining shut.

"Contacts! Lots of contacts!" A panicked marine shouts, firing his assault rifle.

"No covenant, you just had to open your mouth!" A third says, ducking behind cover. The Spartans spread out and begin firing, Max moving into a far corner. As more and more covenant appear, Max turns to his right, having gotten a contact on the motion sensor. He raises his assault rifle and fires, hitting a charging stealth elite in the chest, the same one that killed the marine earlier. The rounds hit its stealth generator, shorting it out and forcing it to draw its sword and charge. Max fires again, and raises his assault rifle to block the blow, which is sliced cleanly in half. He grabs the elites wrist, holding the sword away from himself while the elite struggled to get it closer.

Max sees his shield bar flicker as the sword got closer, before deciding he had to do something now or loose an arm and/or head. He releases the elite wrist and ducks down, slamming his fist into the elites chest. He dives for a fallen plasma rifle and fires blindly at point blank until the gun overheats, burning his hand and forcing him to drop it. "Area secure!" A marine calls out, and Max jogs to regroup with the others. "We should keep moving, how about that door there?" The marine says, pointing at an opening blast door. The task force walks into the door, coming upon another, locked blast door. "This ones sealed, locked from the other side. We'd be sitting ducks in the narrow passages, how about two of you guys find a way around?"

"Right." Max says. "I'll stay here with Roaven and Ariel. Marknos, Kurioto, go around through the side passages." Marknos and Kurioto nod silently, turning around and walking back into the previous room, going through one of the side hallways. They ambush a single grunt guard and kill it, ducking into a side alcove and killing a few more of the short, less-than-intelligent cannon fodder. One of the biped elites, one of the ones in blue armor, most likely the lowest rank, walks by, and Kurioto jump out, and fires a sniper rifle point blank into the elites head.

They continue on, coming onto a large, two leveled room, looking down on the bay from the upper level. Several of the shield carrying, bird like jackals patrolled along the top floor, with more covenant at the bottom. Kurioto crouches down and begins picking off targets, while Marknos charges ahead and guns down the first pair of jackals before they could raise their shields. The other pair begin firing, and Marknos tosses a plasma grenade at them, killing both. He approaches another door, and walks through it, heading downwards into the bottom floor of the room. Most of the covenant resistance was dead, courtesy of Kurioto's sniper rifle. He presses his hand to a holographic panel, and blast door opens, releasing the marines and Spartans. "Alright, stay cool everyone, yell if you see anything!" A marine calls, as they move into another group of hallways. A small group of resistance is cut down by concentrated fire as they move into a large hangar, the door locking behind them. Two more levels were above them, the catwalk resembling platforms making up the floor on the levels went around the outside of the rooms on both level, with a platform separating the two sides of the hangar in the middle, reaching from the floor to the second level, a dropship docked beside it.

The troops spread out, clearing the resistance on the bottom floor and moving to the far side of the hangar. "Hang on, I'll open a door to let us out." Shiro says over the com.

"You better hurry, we can't hold them off all day."

"I'd like to see you crack a 1000 number algorithm." Shiro mutters. A door opens, and more covenant come pouring out, firing on the task force.

"Wrong door." Roaven says, continuing to fire. Another door slides open, and two hunters walk out and fire their cannons. Kurioto crouches down, ducking under a blast, and fires a shot in the tiny bit of exposed skin on the hunters neck, killing it. Roaven flanks the second hunter, and fires into its back, killing it. A third door opens.

"There, no covenant this way, but plenty on the second floor. I can't guarantee it won't lock again when it closes." The force moves through, advancing to the second floor. Ariel rolls a grenade through the door that lead out onto the second floor, before backing up so it closes again. As soon as it goes off, they sprint through, moving along the floor to another door, where they move up another level. On the way, a red armor clad elite ambushes them, and cuts down two marines. Max guns it down and they continue onward, emerging on the third floor.

An elite and 4 grunts awaits them, and some well placed weapons fire takesk care of it. They move along to the other side, where Ariel rolls out and guns down the grunt, but her bullets are blocked by the remaining jackals shield. She charges and slides behind it, firing into its back. Two purple crates separated that area from view on the rest of the level. Roaven looks around. "I'll hold here, our evac can get in here when you guys get Captain Keyes."

The Marines and Spartans, minus Roaven, continue on, coming to a small ramp leading up to a door. Shiro speaks over their com. "Hang on, I have blueprints of the room ahead. There are two doors to your right, one here, and one going deeper into the ship. "I think this next room is the bridge. Two elites, standard, and a Zealot elite, clad in gold armor and carrying a sword, the highest rank. Several grunts too. A single raised area is in the middle with a vantage over the rest of the room."

"Let us handle this one." The marine sergeant says. The doors open and the marines charge in, killing the grunts and mortally wounding the two elites, turning their fire on the zealot. A marine is cut down by its sword and it is gunned down. The marines walk around the room and fire single shots into the wounded elites, killing them. "We'll hold here, we can't keep losing men like this."

"Alright, we'll continue on, and get Captain Keyes." Marknos says. Three jackals come from the far door as the marines walk onto the central platform. The Spartans open fire, cutting down one and rolling out of the way of the plasma fire from the others. Kurioto fires a shot in the gap in the shield, where the jackals stuck their arms to fire past their shield. It falls and the other turns and runs, holding its shield above its head. A single burst of assault rifle fire impacts its back, penetrating the jackal's spine and killing it. The Spartans continue onward, but halt at the next corner. Marknos primes a grenade and tosses it around the corner, and several screams are heard as it detonates.

They run around the corner, scanning the carnage. A patrol of 5 grunts and 1 jackal was going towards the bridge, but not anymore. They continue down a straight hallway, where two alcoves on opposite sides of the hallway were patrolled by jackals. The group waits until they're both in view, and then guns them down with prolonged bursts of fire. They turn left at the next corner, where two _more_ jackals were patrolling. Kurioto reloads his sniper rifle, putting a bullet through the head of the first jackal. Ariel sets down her assault rifle and unslings her sniper, doing the same to the other jackal as it came to investigate. They walk down the hallway, making a right to an unlocked door.

A single zealot elite patrols the far side, while several grunts sleep and two stealth elites converse near the cells. Kurioto fires his sniper, putting a round through the zealot's shields, helmet, and head. The two stealth elites turn and fire, activating their cloaking,

While the grunts jump up. Max and Marknos fire on the grunts, while Kurioto and Ariel fire on the elites. A single round punches through a grunts methane tank, and it explodes, killing the other grunts and disabling the elites camouflage, leaving them victim to another hail of weapons fire. A marine cheers from one of the cells. "Nice going sirs, you really kicked the shi-"

"Shut it trooper." Captain Keyes interrupts, lying against his cell wall. Max walks over to the zealot's body, activating the holopanel beside it. The shield doors over the cells fade away, and the marines run out to the elites and grab plasma rifles. Ariel pulls Keyes to his feet. "Coming here was reckless, you all know better than this. Thanks." He walks out of his cell. "Marines, lock and load your weapons, let's be ready to move."

"Yes sir."

"Ok Sir." The two soldiers say simultaneously.

"While the covenant had me locked up here I overheard the guards talking about this ring world. They call it….Halo."

"One moment, sir. Accessing Covenant battlenet. (Pause) According to the data in their networks, the ring has some kind of deep religious significance. If I'm analyzing this correctly...they believe that Halo is some kind of weapon. One with vast, unimaginable power." Cin says over Marknos's armor's speaker.

"Well...that's true. The Covenant kept saying, "Whoever controls Halo controls the fate of the universe." Captain Keyes Muses.

"Now I see...I have intercepted a number of messages about a Covenant search team, scouting for a "Control room". I thought they were looking for the bridge of a cruiser I damaged during the battle above the ring. But they must be looking for Halo's control room." Cin says, deep in thought.

"That's bad news. If Halo is a weapon, and the Covenant gain control of it, they'll use it against us and wipe out the entire human race." (Pause) "Spartans, I have a new mission for you. We need to beat the Covenant to Halo's control room. Marines! Let's move!"

"Yes Sir."

"Ok Sir." The two say, once again in unison.

"Spartans, you have point." Captain Keyes says, picking up a needler.

Their com crackles to life and Roaven's voice comes over it. "You guys better hurry, Plenty of covenant inbound. I can't hold them forever."

Two cloaked elites walk into the room, but are gunned down by the marines. The group sprints ahead, past the covenant patrol they killed, stopping at the bridge door. "Contact." Max mutters, walking forward. The door, a white glow around its edge, glows brighter and slides open. Two seemingly floating swords were moving around the bridge, blood dripping down from the center platform. The marines open fire, each aiming beside the sword. Because stealth elites lack shields, the plasma made short work of both of them.

The group secures the bridge, taking ammo from the dead marines they left behind. Ariel calls into the com. "Echo 419, this is Ariel. We made it. We have the Captain and need extraction on the double."

"Negative Ariel, I've been engaged by covenant air patrols and I'm having a tough time shaking 'em. You'd be better off finding your own ride. Sorry."

"Acknowledged Foehammer, Ariel out." She turns to the Captain. "Air support is cut off captain, We need to hold here until she can move in."

One of the marines looks around frantically. "Ah man, we're trapped in here, we're screwed, we're screwed man!"

"Stow the bellyaching soldier, remember you're a leatherneck. Spartans, if I can get to one of those covenant dropships, I can fly us out of here."

Marknos cuts in. "There's a covenant dropship still docked, right?"

The three doors leading to their objective light up, and slide open, revealing a large amount of covenant. The captain fires the needler into one group, and the explosions set off plasma grenades, taking out all three groups. They continue on, reaching the hangar. There, two marines are being held at gunpoint, and are gunned down by a single elite. A sniper bullet hits it in the back of the head, and Roaven appears. "Damn, I'm too late. Good to see you captain. Sorry I couldn't stop the covenant from getting through." He mutters, placing his hand on a holopanel. The dropship rises to the third level and the group climbs on.

"Give me a minute to interface with the ships controls." Shiro says.

"No need, I'll take this bird out myself."

"Hunters!" Max calls, as two of the fuel rod carrying covenant appear. The dropship lurches forward, ramming both of them, and then pulls back, flying out of the hangar.


	4. The Silent Cartographer

Two pelicans sweep in towards a small island, surrounded by beaches and with two visible structures jutting out from cliffs on

(AN:This chapter will be the shortest in the story due to the characters splitting up.)

Two pelicans sweep in towards a small island, surrounded by beaches and with two visible structures jutting out from cliffs on two sides of it. Shiro's voice comes over the loudspeaker in the first one, and over the com of the passengers in the second. "Sorry you had to leave your AI back at base, you're stuck with me, for now. The Silent Cartographer, a map room, is on this island, most likely in one of the two structures. Roaven will be taking a large force of marines to the first one. It can only be reached via air, or by cutting through the center of the island. Meanwhile, Alpha team, you Spartans, will be securing the other one. It can be reached from the edge of the island, and we can evac you directly from it, thanks to the fork shaped platform it's on. I'll stick with Alpha, but I'll be able to reach Roaven on com.

The two Pelican dropships part ways, the second going left, while the first went right. The second flies in towards a Cliffside above a small plateau and disperses 14 marines and Roaven. It then takes off, disappearing into the distance. The first flies around the island, slowing and descending towards another building, dropping the 4 Spartans off on the platform. Ariel and max take up positions on the side of the building, only a small portion jutting onto the platform. There were two entrances from the side and one from the front, leading into a narrow hallway with alcoves on the sides. Kurioto crouches, clutching a scoped sidearm, and peers down the hallway while Marknos moves in slowly. "Alpha team, this is bravo. The perimeter here is secure, no hostiles so far. Delta, take the right, Echo, the left, Omega, stays here and watch our backs. We'll let you know if something happens."

The Spartans advance cautiously through the hallway, and down a narrow ramp, the only way forward. A small contingency of covenant troops awaited them, a single Zealot elite standing behind an open doorway. "Don't let them lock the doors!" Shiro calls, but the door slides shut. Kurioto fires single shots, picking off the soldiers, and the team advances on the door, trying to find a way through it.

"Bravo, this is alpha." Marknos says over the com channel. "Our progress is impeded by a locked door; we can't find any way through. Got anything on your end?"

A message, filled with static, responds. "Roger, I think……found…….try it……open!" The door slides open, and the com picks up a signal again. "Alright, no contacts so far, we're continuing on." The group sweeps the hallway, walking forward. The path splits, the right path leading to a platform jutting out above a seemingly endless drop, the left continuing into the facility. Kurioto walks out onto the platform, nudging a pebble over the edge. There is no sign of it hitting the bottom, so they move down the left path, coming into a split room. Ariel turns to face the others, and they all crouch down, several contacts appearing in the next room on their motion tracker.

"Kurioto, Marknos, take the top path and cover us. Max and I will clear the room on this floor." The team splits up, Marknos and Kurioto ascending the ramp and slowly advancing along the upper floor, readying their weapons. Max and Ariel ease into the room and take up firing positions behind the purple covenant crates. Kurioto fires a single shot, piercing through the elites head before it could get its shield up. The grunts in the room panic, and are easy targets for the other Spartans. One primes a grenade but is gunned down before he can throw it. It explodes, and the crates in the room begin exploding as well, causing the walkway around the room to collapse, sending Kurioto and Marknos tumbling into the wreckage. Max dives forward, trying to avoid the explosions, but is flung into an adjacent wall, the taste of copper in his mouth. Ariel is thrown backwards through the doorway, sliding across the floor. A pair of jackals walk into the room, and sweep it, seeing nothing. They turn around and begin conversing, unaware of the peril they turned their back on. A short burst of fire impacts them both, killing them instantly.

The Spartans regroup, recovering from the minor injuries and pressing forward. The door ahead of them lead to a ramp, slowly descending, wrapped around a small fall. They traverse it, hearing gunfire below, then nothing. The group checks their weapons, reaching the bottom and slipping into the room, which was littered with marine corpses. "Damn." Marknos remarks, examining the bodies. "What do you think killed them?"

"Dunno." Max says, walking forward. "Probably some dug in covenant troops. Whoever did, they probably pulled back to the cartographer. We should follow." The team scavenges ammo, and grenades, approaching the next door cautiously. It opens into a large, empty room, raised platforms on both sides.

"This is Roaven. We've run into resistance and are pinned down. We'll pull back to-"

"Foehammer to Ground teams, you got multiple dropships, coming in fast!"

Roaven curses audibly over the com. "Alright, we're pulling out and will engage them on sight. We'll try to get back to you guys, over."

Ariel responds quickly, after urging the team to pick up the pace. "Roger Roaven, give 'em hell."

Shiro accesses the com, sounding worried. "Even with a Spartan, I doubt they'll last long. The cartographer is close, but scans are revealing a lot of enemy troops as well. Good luck." The Spartans approach yet another green-lighted door, and Ariel and Marknos walk through it.

"We'll attempt to hold them back if they make it this far. Try to hurry." Max says, checking his ammunition and ducking down. Ariel approaches a room packed with sleeping and patrolling grunts, and moves quietly around the side, walking down a ramp to a dark passage, where a blue glow illuminated the far side, from a forerunner control panel. Two elites stood guard, unaware of her presence, and the sound of gunfire above them momentarily distracted them, allowing Ariel to jump at them, slamming the stock of her weapon into the firsts neck, killing it, and emptying an entire clip point blank into the other.

An urgent-sounding message bursts over the com, most likely broadcast unintentionally. "Bravo, this is Charlie, we are pinned down, and-Grenade! Move, mov-"

"Bravo, this is delta, we are pulling out, we have been separated and will proceed to-……….Sarge! Oh shit. Bravo! Our CO is down, recommend mission abort!"

Roaven's voice responds, unnervingly calm. "Negative, we have to give Alpha more time."

"They could be dead for all we know! There's. Too. Many. Roaven! That's it, we're pulling out. Bravo to Dagger 574, we need air support! Popping smoke to mark our location. Echo, Roaven's down, we need cover fire! I repeat, we-" The message dissolves into static, as more plasma fire joins the noise above. Marknos appears around the corner, beckoning her to move. The two advance a series of ramps to find Max and Kurioto spraying fire at a group of covenant soldiers, Max priming and throwing a grenade. Kurioto ducks down and the grenade explodes, clearing the way.

"Come on, we have to move. I lost contact with Roaven's team and the enemy has breached the structure." Max says, reloading. The Spartans move forward, advancing through the empty room and cutting through the few enemy soldiers standing in their way. They reach the destroyed room, now littered with covenant troops. The group enters the room and fans out, gunning down the grunts but scattered by fire from a pair of elites. Kurioto reloads and fires at the first, but a grenade lands beside him and he rolls away, none of the others able to draw a bead.

Gunshots ring out and both elites fall dead, revealing a single ODST 'helljumper' wearing black ODST armor. They were named so for their practice of riding through the atmosphere of planets in single man pods, called HEVs. "Come on." He says, reloading the two smgs he was carrying. "Roaven is waiting with the rest of my squad." He walks forward, and the Spartans follow, stepping over debris and corpses.

The ODST rounds the corner, and is impaled by a glowing blue energy sword. He raises one and fires point blank, before falling limp. Marknos turns to Ariel, and she nods. He pulls the pin off of a grenade, and ricochets it around the corner, rewarded with a cry and explosion. The group continues, hearing human weapons above. They increase their pace, finding three ODSTs and Roaven firing at a pair of cloaked elites. Roaven turns and greets them as return fire halts. "Evac's on the way. Wheres-"

"Dead." Ariel says, walking past them and towards a lowering Dropship. "Where's your squad?"

"They pulled out. Delta and the rest of Bravo are KIA though. These helljumpers, Fixer, Eagle, and Physco, as named by each other, showed up to help us out."

Roaven climbs aboard the dropship, pulling the ODSTs up and helping the other Spartans in. Shiro chimes in "Let's get moving. Foehammer. Here are coordinates and a flight plan I've worked out."

"But, Shiro...these coordinates are underground." She replies, skeptical. The dropship lifts off, flying towards the center of the island where a large plate like structure lay.

"The Covenant did a thorough seismic scan. My analysis shows that Halo is honeycombed with deep tunnels, which circle the whole ring." Shiro says calmly, as Ariel offers the AI chip to Roaven, but he refuses it.

"Keep him for a while. You'll need him more."

"I hope your analysis is on-the-money, Shiro. This Pelican won't turn on a dime."

The structure slides open and Foehammer lowers the dropship into the tunnel concealed beneath it.

"Look on the bright side, Foehammer. The last thing the Covenant will expect is an aerial insertion from underground." Shiro says, a hint of amusement in his voice. The top slides back into place with a bang as darkness envelopes them.


	5. Assault on the Control Room

Assault on the Control Room  
Declan Murray

The Drop ship swoops through narrow tunnels, as a group of Armor-Clad soldiers converse in the back. Three soldiers, clad in sleeker, Black armor sat in the back of the troop bay silently. One of the soldiers, a Spartan, disappears into the cockpit and reemerges, handing several rectangular data blocks to the other Spartans. "Almost forgot, a little present from command."

"What's this, their idea of a care package?" another one jokes, sliding the chip into a slot on his helmet. "The last thing this'll do is care for me."

"Funny Max. Roomy in here, though, especially since your brain takes up so little space." A voice sounds over his armor's speakers, Takeshi scolding him with a joke of his own.

"With all the brain cells you've killed off it should be roomy," Max retorts. "Thanks, Roaven."

Roaven nods, looking away and fumbling with his Assault rifle. A third Spartan takes the chip and inserts it into the helmet slot. "Hello Ariel, did you miss me?"

"Not really. Should've seen all the ass I kicked while you were gone. Without you distracting me, it was easier, Dresden."

"Oh yes, the cockiness in your attitude never ceases to amuse me." The Final Spartan says nothing, having no AI of his own. Roaven glances over at him.

"Lighten up, Kurioto, We've got a long trip ahead of us." He says, standing up and walking to the sealed exit of the troop bay. "The rest of you, check your weapons, load up, and get some rest." He walks past the others and places a final data chip into a holopanel, where the figure of a man, wearing a military uniform, appears.

"You called?"

"Yes I did Shiro. Run a thorough scan of the tunnels ahead, calculate an ETA, and give me a sitrep on our supplies."

"I'll get right on tha-"

"Bring up crew vitals on screen."

"Of Cours-"

"Access UNSC database, article 52 section 7, on screen as well."

"Right away." Shiro says, while the ODSTs, the black armor clad stare at him. Few were able to get AI to do so much at once. Roaven pauses, scanning over the vital signs brought up on his HUD, heads up display. The other Spartans remove their helmets and lean back, attempting to get some rest."

Shiro appears. "Firstly, ETA of 3.26 hours with a .03 error margin at our current pace. We'll be fine on supplies for another day or two, and we have enough ammunition for several hours of continuous fire."

"Good, good. Lets get underway."

Shiro nods and disappears. Roaven crouches down and removes the data chip, sitting on the floor of the troop bay and closing his eyes. His eyes snap open as the ship jerks, and he stands up. "Shiro, time since I fell asleep?"

"3.23 hours. Only a few minutes until we arrive."

Roaven curses. "Alright everyone, on your feet! Grab whatever you're taking and get ready to move!" The Spartans react instantly; the ODSTs react only a little slower. They scatter about the bay, gathering weapons, rations, and ammo. The dropship begins ascending, and the Spartans load their weapons, staring at the troop bay hatch while it unlocks. Several grunts sleep on the platform above the dropship, unaware of its presence. A single grunt patrols, walking towards the edge haphazardly, barely awake, much less alert.

He pauses, sniffing the air, as the dropship rises into view. He freezes, and then lets out a yelp of terror, turning and fleeing towards a door out of the large room. The ship spins around and the troop bay door fully opens, the Spartans pouring out, closely followed by the ODSTs. The room lies empty, the grunts woken and sent away in terror. The far door slides open and the grunts pour out, a single Minor Elite accompanying them.

A hail of plasma greets them, slightly lowering their shields and scorching the metal floor around them. A vapor trail flies over them, signifying a sniper round embedding itself in the elite's helmet. The Spartans open fire as well, bursts of fire cutting down the remaining grunts. Roaven glances over his shoulder at one of the ODSTs, who is clutching a sniper rifle. "Nice work eagle."

"It's Hawk." The ODST grunts, slightly amused. The group cautiously proceeds through the door, the only feasible exit from the room, and proceeds through the hallway. A single Elite guard walks past the exit seconds before it opens and, before it can raise its shield, a gunshot rings out and it falls to the floor, dead. Roaven steps into the room, clutching his sidearm, and beckons for the others to follow. Several grunts stand around lazily, talking in an unintelligible series of barks and grunts. A hail of weapons fire descends upon them from both sides, killing them near instantly.

Psycho, one of the ODSTs, walks through the middle of the room, clutching a shotgun. He glances around, and a glowing blue grenade descends upon him, sticking to his helmet and emitting a growing whine. He reacts instantly, yanking the helmet off and tossing it aside, where it explodes, just far enough to avoid hurting him. He spins around and guns down the single grunt who avoided death, resting for a moment before advancing to the other side of the room where the others waited. Shiro activates Roaven's armor's speakers, stating worriedly. "The covenant have a stronger presence here than I anticipated. They seem to have the entire region secured."

"They're after the same thing we're after, What'd you expect? Them to step aside and let us pass?" Takeshi says, half serious, half jokingly.

Max says nothing at this comment, choosing instead to press on. Kurioto follows silently, the ODSTs falling in step as well. Ariel and Roaven glance at each other, as Marknos pushes past them. Roaven shrugs, following the others, and Ariel follows suit. They emerge in an open canyon, standing on a bridge, two Covenant shade turrets on either side, with their gunners sleeping beside them. Two of the ODSTs move to silently eliminate them, while Roaven walks to the edge of the bridge, gripping it and looking around.

"Interesting... the weather patterns here seem natural, not artificial. I wonder if the ring's environment systems are malfunctioning……or if the designers wanted the installation to have inclement weather."

Roaven sighs. "That information is interesting, but useless to our mission for the time being." He grabs his rifle and walks over to the others.

"Anyone hear that?" Marknos asks, looking around. A human dropship flies over to the bridge, as the covenant soldiers stationed on the bridge open fire on it. Their com crackles to life as a distressed voice broadcasts.

"This is Fire Team Zulu requesting immediate assistance from any UNSC forces, Does anyone copy?" Shiro pauses, musing.

"I didn't think there were any human forces left on this part of the ring. Shiro to fire team Zulu, I read you. Fire team Zulu, this is Shiro, Hold position, we're on our way."

"Roger that, make it quick." The pelican stops, rapidly descending into the canyon below, out of range of the covenant fire. Roaven pauses for a minute, then makes a quick series of hand signals. The ODSTs follow him to a second level below the bridge, where a single elite minor was walking away from them. More grunts were sleeping there as well, so the ODSTs move to eliminate them as well, while Roaven slams the butt of his rifle into the elite's back, making a quiet, sickening crack as it falls, dead.

Meanwhile, Kurioto, Max, Marknos, and Ariel advance along the top of the bridge, ducking behind a large obstruction, connected to an energy line presumably holding the bridge up. Marknos tosses a grenade over, while Ariel and max roll out, firing upon a group of covenant. Fixer and Psycho advance, coming up on the other side of the bridge and approaching the door leading off of it. It slides open to reveal a zealot elite, clad in golden armor and clutching a glowing blue energy sword.

Lunging forward, it impales Fixer and withdraws its sword, turning and advancing on Psycho. Psycho opens fire with his twin submachine guns, but most of the rounds just hit the elite's shield. Tossing them aside, he reaches for his sidearm, but the elite descends upon him and he grabs its wrist, attempting to keep from being impaled while slowly backing to the edge of the bridge. The Zealot doesn't bother with its sword, shoving Psycho over the edge of the bridge to plummet to his death. As soon as he disappears from view, the elite turns to the Spartans, and they simultaneously open fire, quickly cutting through its shields. It draws and arms a plasma grenade, throwing it Ariel, who rolls out of the way as it explodes in mid-air behind her, causing her, and the others, shields to flicker. Marknos and Max duck behind cover to reload, as Ariel and Kurioto continue firing. The Zealot's armor absorbs most of the fire, and it charges forward, lunging at Ariel. Kurioto fires at it point blank, drawing his sidearm and finally dropping the elite.

Roaven appears behind the elite, surveying the carnage as Psycho appears. "How did he survive?" Max asks, walking towards them.

"You guys are lucky I was down there to catch him," Roaven replies, handing Psycho a plasma rifle found on the red elite he killed. "We should keep moving. Fire team Zulu's probably waiting."

The team regroups, pressing onward into another room, almost identical to the one before the bridge. A larger covenant contingency waits, opening fire soon after the Spartans entered. Marknos, Max, and Kurioto advance around to the right, while Ariel, Roaven, and the two ODSTs move around the left, breaking the glass windows scattered around to fire on the center of the room.

A door didn't await on the other side, but a ramped passageway downwards, that led into a small room with some sort of raised thing in the middle. They move around it and up another ramp, moving through a noticeably smaller door and into a small lift room, containing a control panel and an elevator shaft, enough to hold maybe 4 people at once. Max and Marknos get on with the two ODSTs, and Roaven approaches the panel, nearly identical to the one he used to extend the energy bridge when they'd first arrived on Halo. He instinctively presses his hand to it, and the elevator begins to descend. It returns to the top, empty, allowing Ariel, Roaven, and Kurioto to catch a ride downwards.

When the Spartans arrive, they find the others have pressed ahead, moving through another door and out into an open area, where the ODSTs, Max, and Marknos were standing. Several dead grunts stood around them, and Max looks up. "Caught them napping." He says jokingly, standing up and beckoning for the others to follow him.

Moving forward once more, they notice that the center room was filled with more napping grunts and two patrolling jackals. Pausing to think over the situation, Roaven directs the ODSTs ahead to eliminate a patrolling elite, and open fire on the Jackals, while Max, Ariel, and Kurioto would go further and hit the room from the other side, while Marknos and Roaven attacked through a window from their current position. They heard a barely audible thump in the distance, the dead elite hitting the ground. A flurry of bullets flies into the center room, and the Spartans take that as their cue, opening fire. The glass windows are instantly shattered, and the grunts are cut down as they awaken. A plasma discharge is followed by a scream, from one of the ODSTs, as the other opens fire and yells out "Medic!"

The Spartans bolt to their position, and see Psycho standing over the form of Hawk. A portion of his armor was breached along his right side, with a black plasma burn for the wound. Dropping to his side, Max administers biofoam to the wound. "This might sting a little," he says, inserting the tip of the bottle into the wound. Hawk nods, biting his lip as the biofoam goes into his wound.

The other Spartans form a perimeter, on the lookout for any other threats. As soon as Max is done, Hawk climbs to his feet, grabbing his sniper rifle and motioning to them that he is fine. Advancing through the rest of the room unopposed, they move through a large hallway, stepping through the door into the large canyon, the bridge they crossed in view above them.

Quickly analyzing the situation, Roaven sends the ODSTs to eliminate the multiple shade turrets in the area, and the Spartans to assist the marines, pinned down in the corner of the canyon. A single wraith tank, hovering a few feet off of the ground, was lobbing plasma mortars at the Marines. "Shiro, access UNSC database, I want the weak points of that thing on my HUD ASAP." Sprinting away from the group, Roaven runs towards the tank, while Psycho calls out targets and Hawk begins picking off the turret gunners, then other targets of opportunity.

The Group of Spartans sprint towards the marines, Kurioto sliding into a crouch and killing an elite running for a ghost, a small, one man vehicle with two wing-like protrusions to the side, and a seat in the main body frame, although the driver is exposed. Ariel reaches the marines first, asking the Cpl., the highest ranked soldier left alive, for a sitrep while Marknos begin righting the overturned warthog, and the others begin gathering the supplies scattered about.

Two ghosts zoomed towards their positions, twin plasma cannons firing away. Marknos climbs onto the warthog's turret, and depresses the trigger. The three barrels of the turret begins spinning, and a hail of fire unleashed upon the first ghost, tearing through its armor and destroying it. A crack rings out and the driver of the second ghost falls dead, a vapor trail hanging in the air. The ghost slides to a stop in front of the corporal, who pauses for a minute. "Spartan 119 wants me to meet up with him. Good hunting." He says, climbing aboard the ghost and shooting off towards the immobile wraith tank. The other Spartans gather supplies, dropping them in one of the two other warthogs that were present. Max and Ariel climb aboard the first, setting the supplies in the side seat, while Kurioto and Marknos mount the second, and the marines occupy the third.

Driving off after the Corporal, they come across the empty wraith, a dead elite lying next to it. A small drop was ahead, and the warthogs traverse it with ease, coming to a stop upon a small skirmish. A group of marines were engaging covenant soldiers, the two ODSTs and Roaven assisting them. The warthogs chain guns roar to life, cutting the remaining covenant down. Two more ghosts approach from one of the two paths onward, one being a large tunnel to the right, the other a wide path straight ahead, curving out of sight.

A rocket streaks into the first, sending the other flying into a wall and destroying them both. A Scorpion tank lies in the middle of the canyon, having four treads and a large turret in the middle. There are handles on each of the treads, allowing four soldiers to ride on top of the tank. Regrouping, Roaven surveys the Marines, and then begins speaking. "Listen, there is another canyon ahead, larger than this one but smaller than the one we were just in. The tunnel leads to a small hill. I will take Hawk and The Corporal there, and provide some support."

The Cpl. nods, now clutching a rocket launcher. "Sergeant Johnson," he says, addressing the dark skinned soldier wearing a military cap and clutching a sniper rifle. "Ride on the tank along with the Spartans, the rest of you, take the warthogs. Move out!"

Everyone moves the pile of supplies taken from the first canyon and the pelican crashed a few meters from the group. The soldiers restock on ammo and rations before splitting up.

Ariel climbs into the tank's driver's seat, while Kurioto, Johnson, Marknos and max climb onto the treads. Roaven, Hawk, and the Cpl. All disappear through the tunnel, out of sight. The other marines climb aboard the warthogs, zooming ahead down the path. The tank roars to life and follows.

Roaven stands atop a small, snow covered raised area that looked like half of a hill, with a steep drop past the edge. Hawk lie in a prone position beside him, centering his crosshairs on a turret gunner on a raised area above the tunnel at the far end of the canyon. The three warthogs come into view, opening fire with their chain guns on the first wraith. The concentrated fire damages it, and the tank rumbles into the view, firing another shot and destroying it. The wraith above the tunnel fires a shot, and the warthogs scatter to avoid it, however, it catches on of them, killing all three marines inside of it, but leaving the warthog relatively unharmed.

The tank fires at the wraith, but misses, unable to get a clear shot. Two rockets streak from Roaven's position, both impacting and destroying the tank. Walking down the hill and climbing into the now empty warthog, Roaven's group regroups with the formation, giving them a sitrep via com. Driving towards the downward slope leading underground, the formation fires upon a pair of hunters climbing up the slope.

Coming upon a closed door, Roaven dismounts and opens it with a small switch, identical to the other two he used, and runs back to his warthog. The 3 warthogs drive ahead, pausing to open another door. With the tank behind them, the group stops in front of the door as it slowly opens, revealing a huge chasm with a two bridges across it, one destroyed and inaccessible.

A single patrolling elite is turned into a road bump as the three warthogs lurch forward, making a perimeter and gunning down the few grunts that opposed them. The tank rumbles forward and launches a shell to the left, at one of the turrets with a firing position on the bridge. The grunts unfortunate enough to be standing beside it and hit with the impact, and throw either into the wall or tossed into the chasm. Driving off to the right, the tank runs over another turret, positioned on the part of the destroyed bridge on their side, while the Spartans riding it unload into the grunts standing around it.

Roaven's warthog goes past them, finding a couple squads of dead marines and collecting ammunition, the corporal taking more rockets for his launcher. Turning and regrouping with the other vehicles, the warthogs storm across the bridge, cutting down countless covenant. A pair of hunters emerge from the tunnel, firing upon one of the warthogs, killing the gunner. Roaven calls out coordinates via his com, and a tank shell lands between the pair, killing them. The marine riding shotgun climbs aboard the turret off the gunnerless warthog, saluting his fallen comrade.

Waiting for a few minutes for the tank to catch up, the group wearily presses forward, coming across a small covenant group at the base of a large ramp back to the surface. The warthog turrets open fire, cutting them down and the group moves forward. Countless rocks dotted the upwards path, forcing the vehicles to move slowly.

A dropship hovers at the top of the tunnel, pouring fire down onto the advancing convoy of spartans and marines. Most of the shots deflected harmlessly on the rocks scattered about, the few that connected causing no real damage. Two ghosts, suspended from the energy field between the two prongs of the dropship, drop down beside two waiting elites, who climb into them as the dropship pulls away. A small covenant infantry contingent awaits the group, opening fire as soon as they emerge from the tunnel. The three warthogs turn their chain guns towards the infantry, kicking up dirt and snow and cutting down the large group of grunts.

The scorpion tank opens fire, hurling a large shell towards the first ghost and destroying it almost instantly, while the secondary machine gun opens fire on the second, damaging it, but the ghost is able to avoid most of the shots. The main cannon booms again, hurling another round towards the ghost which explodes under it, killing the elite driving it and hurling it several meters into the air, where it settles to the ground beside the body of its driver. A large tower dominated the center of the canyon, obscuring the group's view of the rest of the canyon.

Pulling away from the convoy, Roaven triggers his com, sending a short message. "I'm taking Hawk to investigate the tower, You guys go on ahead." He drives his warthog around the left of the tower, coming to a halt beside a large door, dismounting the warthog. The tank pulls ahead to the right, another covenant infantry force awaiting them, along with a shade turret on top of a small, natural made hill. The scorpion fires into the center of the infantry, killing all but two elites. The two warthogs pull up on either side of the large tank, cutting down the two elites. The shade turret opens fire, the superheated plasma bolts killing the marine in the side seat of the first warthog before the scorpion's cannon destroyed it.

A large blue plasma mortar round flies into view, impacting the first warthog head on and destroying it, instantly killing both marines inside. Another round flies into view, impacting near the tank. Knowing the tank wouldn't be able to outrun the next bolt, the spartans reluctantly dismount, taking cover on the slope of the hill and slowly crawling towards the top.

Roaven and Hawk walk into the structure, the marine in the side seat on point. Fumbling with his shotgun, the marine switches on the flashlight, sweeping the hallway ahead of them. Nothing presents itself, so he cautiously advances, followed by the ODST and the spartan. Reaching the entrance to the main room, the marine sweeps it, shaking his head and turning to face the others. "I don't see anyth-" He is interrupted by two glowing prongs of plasma appearing through his chest. He stares down in shock, as the sword withdraws and he collapses.

A single zealot elite, clad in gold armor, stands ahead of them, brandishing its energy sword. The door slides open behind them, and 5 more elite appear, the three in front carrying energy swords while the two in back both held dual plasma rifles. A shotgun rings out and the elite stumbles, revealing the marine, standing up but heavily wounded, his fingers wrapped around the trigger of the shotgun. Chambering another round, he fires again, blood running down his face, which was contorted in anger. Roaven and Hawk run towards him, past the zealot elite as the others advanced.

The marine jerks his head back, offering them his dog tags and signaling for them to run. Roaven glances at Hawk as he grabs the marine's tags, running through the main room and up another ramp, emerging back outside, one level higher than they started. Two ghosts lie, empty, below them, as a covenant wraith tank fired on the other spartans. Hearing weapons fire from the structure, Roaven turns to Hawk. "Nothing we can do. Let's go." He jumps down, crouching to absorb the shock and climbing aboard the first ghost, and Hawk follows suit and climbs into the second. Roaven fumbles with the controls, pressing a button he thought would do something. The ghost came to life, hovering, and Roaven quickly figures out the other controls, relaying them to Hawk, who starts up his ghost as well.

They both surge their ghosts towards the tank, firing the plasma cannons at it as they advanced. Roaven clambers into a sitting position and dives off at the last minute, his ghost crashing into the wraith. Hawk rolls out of his and charges at the tank, who was two close to the two to use its mortar. Climbing aboard, he pulls Roaven up, smashing the butt of his sniper rifle into the hatch. It shows no sign of giving, so Roaven does the same with his assault rifle, smashing the hatch open and revealing a disgruntled elite inside. Roaven brings his assault rifle up, firing from the hip and emptying the clip into the inside of the tank.

A shot rings out in the distance and Roaven spins instinctively, watching a dead elite tumble off of the tank and two the ground. Ariel walks into sight, followed by Marknos, Kurioto, and Max. "Thanks for the save," Roaven says to Ariel, nodding at her.

"Thanks for taking out the tank," she replies, examining the now useless wraith. A glowing green plasma bolt flies past them, impacting the warthog and destroying it, killing all three of its occupants. Two hunters come into view, the first's fuel rod cannon cycling for another shot. Kurioto immediately brings his sniper up, killing the first hunter with a shot to its exposed flesh. The second fires, no flesh visible, but misses, cycling his cannon. Marknos charges forward, dodging a second shot which explodes harmlessly behind him. He sprints past the hunter, turning and bringing his rifle up, firing. The hunter spins around, blocking the shots, and readying another shot. Charging once more, Marknos approaches the hunter, pressing hi s sidearm into the hunter's neck and pulling the trigger several times before the hunter could react.

The hunter falls dead, and the surviving humans regroup, leaving the canyon behind them and walking into a narrower canyon that opened up into a larger one. Only about half of the canyon was on their level, the rest being a good distance below them. Scattering behind several rocks, the group spots two elites and a cluster of grunts blocking the natural ramp leading down into the rest of the canyon. Hawk rest his sniper on the rock, lining up a shot on the first elite, as Kurioto does the same, aiming at the second. The two fire almost simultaneously, killing both elites and causing the grunts to scatter. The group reveal themselves, opening fire on the rest of the grunts and mercilessly cutting them down.

Approaching the ramp, Roaven takes point, slowly descending with his weapon raised. About halfway down, they spot a group of marines on one side of the ramp, with two hunters on the other side, firing on them. A rocket streaks from one of the marines, clutching a launcher, and impacts the first hunter, blowing a hole in his shield and killing him. A fuel rod bolt flies towards the marine, detonating on the rock beside him and killing not only him, but three others as well. The marine sergeant dives for the launcher, firing at the hunter without even standing up. The hunter falls as well and the Sgt. Tosses aside the spent weapon, climbing to his feet and turning his rifle towards the ramp, hearing the spartans approach. Sighing in relief and lowering his weapon, he quickly greets the group and forms his marines up, gathering supplies from the dead.

A small tunnel was the only exit from the canyon, leading into another, larger one. Tossing a shotgun from a dead marine to the Sgt, he instructs him to take point, taking position right behind him. About halfway through, a floating energy sword begin advancing towards them, but two shotgun blasts dropped the elite and shorted out his stealth generator. Roaven emerges into the open once more with the other spartans behind him, glancing around. Behind them was the tunnel, manmade, with a turret sitting on top of it, manned by a grunt. Roaven instructs Hawk to take out the gunner and climbs the narrow path out of the depression and pulls his head above it, looking around. Two turrets were on either side of the depression, both unmanned, with two more guarding a door in the distance.

A single ghost patrolled the ground while a banshee patrolled the sky. A manmade structure was in the middle, metal bars running across the top as a sort of roof, although with gaps in-between and still open, with a ramp going down into the center out of sight, either natural or covered with snow, and another similar ramp coming up on the other side of the canyon. Calling the spartans up as Hawk climbs the canyon towards the shade turret, he quickly assigns them targets, waiting for Hawk to eliminate the turret.

Hawk silently scales the snow covered wall, climbing on top of the tunnel and momentarily admiring the architecture, but his attention falls back to the task at hand and he approaches the turret, the grunt sleeping in the control seat of it, and grabs the grunt, ripping him from the seat and dropping him over the edge, to his death. Taking this as a signal, Max and Marknos hurl plasma grenades at the two turrets, immobilizing and destroying them. Roaven hoists a rocket, firing one at the ghost and one at the banshee, eliminating both. Hawk brings his sniper rifle up, killing the gunners of both turrets by the door at the far end of the canyon. Sweeping the area once more, he relaxes, climbing down and regrouping with the marines before pushing towards the door and regrouping there.

"It's going to be close quarters," Roaven starts. "I think we should-" The door slides open and reveals two elites, who open fire, a barrage of pink needles sticking into the marine Sergeant, exploding and killing him near instantly. A barrage of fire cuts down the two elites, and Roaven crouches by the body, grabbing the dog tags and thrusting it into the Hawk's hand. He shakes his head and stands up, triggering his com and having a quick, silent conversation. "Evac is on the way. Hawk, you're with them. The rest of you, on me," he says, scanning the area once more before disappearing through the door.

Max follows first, then Ariel and Marknos, before Kurioto finally shuffles after them. The door slides closed behind them, and Roaven crouches before the next door, checking to make sure everyone was ready before stepping forward. Two grunts were sleeping right outside, and were in an unfortunate position, cut down almost immediatley. Two elites and six more grunts flanked from both sides. Kurioto fires on the elite, dropping its shield. Marknos and Max drop to positions on either side of the group, opening fire and killing several of the grunts. A plasma grenade drops in the center of the group as plasma fire pelts them, detonating. Ariel drops to the ground and her vitals become erratic. Cursing, Max ducks back and Roaven assumes his spot, cutting down two more grunts and throwing a plasma grenade at the eltie, which attatched to its helmet, detonating and killing it as well as the final grunt. Max works quickly, removing Ariel's back plate and inserting the tip of a biofoam canister into the wound, filling it. Ariel winces at the stinging, but quickly shrugs it off, helping Max to reattach the armor plate and climb to her feet.

Roaven quickly gives her his assault rifle, as hers was destroyed by the blast of the plasma weapon, and scoops up the plasma rifle off of the dead elite, testing it on the wall beside them and cotninuing on. An elevator ride followed, as did another room and passage, and once the group emerged on the other side, they faced an all too familiar sight. A bridge. Snow continued falling, but never stayed long enough to pile up. A single grunt was patrolling ahead of them, the rest asleep. Kurioto quickly moves forward, silently disposing of the patrol as Ariel killed the other two with melee attacks.

The group pauses behind the next piece of cover, peering out and spotting a large cluster of elites. Marknos and Max prime grenades, tossing them into the group and killing two minors, wounding the major, and leaving the zealot almost unharmed. Roaven and Ariel turn the corner, opening fire and cutting down the major. Roaven fires his plasma rifle on full automatic at the zealot, dropping its shield, but the weapon overheats. Cursing, he drops it and unholsters his sidearm, firing at the zealot, wounding it but leaving it alive. Suddenly, a green blue knocks it to the ground, opening fire at point blank and killing it.

"Thanks Marknos," Roaven says, reloading his sidearm and looking ahead. A large gropu of grunts awaited them, weapons aimed in their direction. Marknos vaults over one of the bridge supports, cutting down two grunts almost as soon as he lands, while Roaven edges around the side and begins picking off some of the remainder. Kurioto fires his sniper, killing more of them while Max provides cover. The final threat now eliminated, Marknos confidently strides forward, completley convinced the battle was over. Without warning, something explodes beside him, sending him a few steps backwards simply from the force of it. Two hunters glare onward from the adjacent bridge, preparing another shot.

Roaven shoves Max forward, beckoning for them to continue. Ariel and Marknos run through the door, turning and covering Max and Kurioto as they duck inside as well. "I'll catch up!" Roaven calls, examining his sidearm and ducking out of sight. The door closes slowly, and Ariel signals them to continue, taking command into her own hands. They quickly sweep the entrance to the next room, seeing noone. The group of spartans split up, sweeping the ground, walls, and roof, but finding nothing. Two dead marines were in the center of the room, a handgun and assault rifle laying beside them. Max picks up both of them, making a note to pass them on to Roaven once they met up.

Sweeping the room once more, the group finds it empty, regrouping at the next door and checking their supplies. The door slides open, and the spartans quickly raise their weapons, ready to fire at a moments notice. Roaven limps through, collapsing against the doorway. Ariel and Max rush to his side, checking his vitals and looking for wounds. Pushing them away, Roaven stands, taking the weapons from Max. "I'm fine," he says, reloading both weapons and signaling for them to follow him. The group complies, reluctant to let him lead in his condition, but knowing he would refuse to back down.

Roaven slips through the small hallway quickly, stepping out of the next door, covenant bodies littering the area. Signaling them forward, Roaven just as quickly orders them to stop and get behind cover. three elites patrol the bridge, checking for wounded and advancing towards the concealed spartans. Looking around, Roaven takes a plasma grenade from a dead grunt, raising it and preparing to throw it. The elites look up, straight at the cover the spartans were behind, and raise their weapons, conversing in their alien tongue. Roaven grabs his rifle, tossing the grenade to Ariel, who arms it, tossing it at the lead elite. Snapping out of cover, Roaven opens fire, bullets deflecting off of the elite's shield.

Marknos and Max emerge as well, focusing fire on the same elite, while the third was nowhere to be found. The second elite falls, and the sounds of a struggle emerge from behind them. The group turns to see Kurioto locked in cqb combat with the elite, the weapons of both laying off to the side while the two grappled, occaisonally trading punches and kicks. Unable to get a clear shot, the group is forced to simply watch on, waiting for the victory to emerge, before or after a clear shot. Bringing his fist forward with all of his might, Kurioto slams it into the elites stomach, causing the elite to double over in pain. Taking the initiative, Kurioto strikes again, knocking the elite to the ground. Raising his foot, Kurioto slams his foot down into the elite, causing it to cry out in pain, struggling to escape. Kurioto punches it several more times until it falls still, barely able to move. Drawing his handgun, he raises it, emptying th entire clip into the elite's head.

Kurioto quickly reloads, fetching his rifle and regrouping with the rest of the team. Grimacing at the broken body, Ariel and Max leave first, Roaven and Marknos following close behind, as Kurioto falls in as well. Shiro comes back onto their com channel, with another insightful comment. "The resistance appears to be increasing, we must be getting close to the control center." He remarks, expecting a sarcastic reply but getting none. Finding the rest of the bridge devoid of life, the spartans press on, dropping into crouches and advancing through another door. Emerging on the other side, their blood runs cold as they recognize the distinctive roar of a hunter. And when there's one hunter, there's always at least one more. Snapping back into reality, Roaven orders Marknos and Kurioto to the right, Max and Ariel to the left, and advances down the middle himself.

The two hunters turn to face him, raising their fuel rod cannons and opening fire. Roaven rolls out of the way, counting on being able to distract defeat the hunters. Raising up, he opens fire, the automatic weapons fire richocheting off of the hunters armor and shield . Cursing, he ducks back down, slamming a new clip into place and priming a frag grenade, tossing it over his cover and spinting to another obstruction, ducking down behind it. The grenade detonates with no obvious affect except making the hunters angier. A fuel rod shot detonates just to the left of him, causing his shields to drop halfway. Rolling out into the open, he fires once more, emptying another clip. Realizing that he wouldn't make it to cover in time, Roaven raises his hand to help dampen the effects of the shot, but it never came. Looking up, he sees the hunters laying dead on the ground, shattered glass around them. The two windows in the far corners of the room had been shattered, with Marknos and Kurioto standing behind one and Max and Ariel standing behind the other. Roaven nods between them, standing and reloading his rifle. It was time to take the control room.

The team of spartans regroup in the middle of the room along with Hawk, checking their supplies. Shiro accesses the entire team's com channel, announcing the plan. "From what I have been able to gather so far, there should be a land bridge ahead. The covenant will most likely have air support in the area. Kurioto, Marknos, see if you can commander or otherwise eliminate this support. Roaven, Max, and Ariel will launch an assault on the control room from the ground. Hawk will provide sniper support from any vantage point he can find. Let's move out." He says, and Roaven takes point, advancing to the door leading from the room. The door slides open, and Roaven steps through, sweeping the hallway and directing the others to follow.

They advance through the hallway, pausing at the other end. Hawk crouches by the corner, Roaven stands in front of the door, and the others take up flanking positions on either side of it. The door slides open, revealing a large, snow covered land bridge spanning the large canyon. A single covenant banshee was laying on the bridge, an elite preparing to enter it. Kurioto lunges through the door, sprinting forward. He pulls the elite from the banshee, punching him in the gut and causing the elite to reel back. Kurioto then unholsters his handgun, pressing it to the elite's head and firing, killing it. He jumps into the banshee and takes off as the rest of the troops on the bridge open fire.

Hawk steps through the door, advancing along a ledge to the left of the doorway and climbing up towards a small outcrop that would provide him with a good sniping position. Kurioto strafes the covenant position, firing the fuel rod cannon. The shot detonated in the middle of a group of grunts, detonating their grenades and decimating their ranks. Plama shots fizzle against the aircraft's armor, having little affect. Roaven orders the spartans forward, opening fire at a major elite clad in red armor. The shots begin slowing draining its shield as Marknos and Ariel fire as well, bringing down the shield generator the elite carried. Max joins the barrage, and the elite falls to the ground, dead. Roaven ducks behind a rock as plasma fire fills the air. The other spartans duck down as well, as a group of grunts advance on them, one wearing the silver armor of a SpecOps soldier and carrying a fuel rod gun. The shot goes wide and detonates against a boulder, as the weapon cycles, preparing to fire again.

Hawk crouches down, steadying his rifle and centering the crosshairs on the SpecOps grunt. He moves the reticule between the grunt's grenade belt and fuel rod gun. As far as he knew, either shot would be effective. Working quickly, he recalls all he knew about the fuel rod weapons. They had a failsafe of some sort, and would detonate after the carrier died. Knowing this, he aims higher, at the grunts head. He flicks the safety off with his thumb and pulls the trigger, watching in satisfaction as the grunt falls and the fuel rod gun glows green. It explodes in a bright flash, killing the grunts around it, and setting off a group of plasma grenades.

Roaven opens fire, cutting down several grunts with short bursts of assault rifle bullets. Plasma slowly drains his shield as he drains his magazine, an overcharged shot from a plasma pistol hitting him and completely emptying his shields. He curses, ducking back as Ariel and Max fire wildly, suppressing the enemy position. Marknos runs towards the edge of the bridge, pushing off and freefalling for a short while before landing on the second banshee. He climbs into the cockpit, pulling the pilot from it and letting him fall. He climbs in, familiarizing himself with the controls and moving to strafe the covenant position on the bridge.

Roaven primes a grenade, throwing it towards the cluster of elites at the far end of the bridge as his shields recharge. It detonates, stunning the elites and letting the group push forward, forcing the defenders back into the hallway exiting the bridge. The team regroups around the door, with Hawk climbing down onto the bridge and firing at the covenent troops stationed on the pyramid shaped structure containing the control room. Roaven directs the spartans to advance through the building while he climbed down the cliff face to the bottom to scout the area.

Ariel takes point, moving into the hallway where two elites, both with no shields, were waiting. The first opens fire, cutting through her shields as she fires on the second, killing it. A burst of fire flies past her, killing the remaining elite. Max steps through, beckoning for her to follow him into the next room. The next room was eerily quiet, with no sounds other then their own footsteps slowly advancing through the room. "It's too quiet." Max says, turning around and checking that there was noone behind them.

Two bright explosions light the center of the room, their visors adjusting to dim the bright light that suddenly emerged. Plasma fire descends upon them from all sides, as they duck behind a pillar in the center of the room, scanning the area. The surviving elites from the battle had taken up positions on the upper tier of the room, firing down upon the spartans. Max emerges from cover, firing. The bullets hit an elite, its armor taking most of the shots before it finally expires. More fire lights up the room, pinning the two down. Ariel primes a plasma grenade, throwing it blidly over the metal block she was hiding behind.

It detonates, and both Ariel and Max jump out of cover, running towards the far end of the room and ducking through the doorway, watching in relief as it closed behind them. "Let's keep going. Roaven will be waiting for us at the bottom." Max says, taking point and boarding another small elevator, moving through another room and stacking up on either side of the door at the end. It slides open and they pop out of cover, sweeping the area. A covenant ghost, a small, purple, single person attack vehicle, shot across the terrain, firing its plasma cannons at the pair. The two duck behind a large boulder, as plasma fire scorches the rock, the ghost moving around it.

The ghost moves into sight, in the perfect position to rain fire upon the two. A large object falls down, landing on top of the vehicle. "Roaven?" Ariel asks, recognizing the figure. The Spartan grabs the elite, throwing him out of the vehicle and pinning him down, using the elite's plasma pistol to deliver a fatal shot before standing, taking cover beside Max and Ariel as more covenant troops advance upon them. The distinct sound of two banshees reach their ears, as Marknos and Kurioto come in for a strafing run. Marknos trails plasma fire through a line of grunts and jackals, killing them, while Kurioto drops a fuel rod bomb on a pair of hunters.

Roaven beckons them to follow. "We have to hurry, before they figure out how to use the halo." He says, sprinting towards the pyramid shaped structure, firing his assault rifle full auto. He cuts down several grunts as Max and Ariel fall in behind him. He walks along the path leading to the top of the structure, moving up a ramp and across another level before coming face to face with an elite. A sniper shot rings out, and the elite falls, dead. The team moves on, stopping at the top of the structure near a huge blast door. Roaven moves to a control panel beside the door while Marknos and Kurioto land, dismounting their vehicles.

Roaven activates the control panel, and the doors unlock, sliding open to reveal a large covenant group. Plasma fire lances out at once, hitting the spartans several times as they return fire. Roaven is tackled by a zealot elite, clutching a blue plasma sword, and wrestles with the elites weapon to try and disarm it. Ariel's shield depletes, and she is hit several times, cursing as she ducks behind one of the banshes. Marknos throws a grenade, which detonates among a group of elites, causing minor damage. Max is forced to retreated by concentrated fire, while Kurioto and Marknos advance a small walkway that lead to a vantage point above them. They begin firing down, when a plasma grenade lands among them, forcing them to stop firing and dodge it. Roaven is pressed against the wall by the elite, its sword inches from his neck. He trys to overpower the elite, going for his sidearm and unloading into the elite's chest. The bullets have little effect, but distract the elite, allowing him to bring his fist up into the elite's chin in an uppercut. The elite jumps back, slicing through Roaven's shields and cutting through the skin on his right shoulder. Roaven dives for his assault rifle, firing point blank on full auto. The elite recoils, but remains largely unaffected by the fire. It steps forward again, raising its sword to deliver to fatal blow. Roaven continues firing until the rifle was empty, rolling out of the way and charging at the elite.

Wounded and stunned however, Roaven is no match for the elite, who knocks him aside again, slashing at him with his energy sword. The sword clatters to the ground beside the elite's body, a sniper round exiting the other side of its head. The sword's fail safe activates, destroying it. Several plasma rounds hit his side, and he stumbles, ducking behind cover with his empty rifle. A fuel air cannon shot lands among the covenant and a banshee crashes beside Roaven, spooking him. Hawk emerges, limping and clutching his rifle. "Christ, how do you fly those things?" He asks, crouching beside Roaven.

Max and Ariel emerge simultaneously, opening fire and cutting through several grunts and two elites, their shields drained by the fuel rod cannon. More fire comes from above, Marknos and Kurioto firing down into the covenant position. Roaven and Hawk emerge as well, Hawk reloading and downing two more elites. The covenant force begins to dwindle, as the Spartans prime and throw grenades, leaving only wounded covenant alive. Kurioto and Marknos begin walking among the covenant, finishing the wounded and recovering equipment.

Max, Ariel, and Roaven advance through the hallways, and Shiro speaks again. "Scanning…..all covenant forces eliminated. Let's move on to Halo's control room." The group emerges into the large, mostly empty room. The glass and metal catwalk was the only thing keeping them from falling into the dark and seemingly endless chasm below them. The platform was a single, wide straight line, ending in a large circle in the center of the room, with a hole in the middle containing a holographic replica of halo, larger than the Spartans but smaller than the actual ring and the controls facing the group. They stop at the controls, each removing their AI and inserting them into the controls, letting them get to work.

The three AI appear above the controls, their eyes red and data streaming from them. Roaven steps forward, seeming worried. "You all right?" He asks. Shiro smiles, looking around.

"Never been better. You can't imagine the wealth of information." Shiro replies.

"So much, so fast!" Dresden adds.

"It's glorious." Shiro continues, finishing. Roaven nods, stepping back. Ariel removes her helmet, looking at the 3 Ai.

"So, what kind of weapon is it?" She asks, seeming eager.

"What are you talking about?" Dresden says, looking at her, surprised.

"Let's stay focused." Roaven says, interrupting. "Halo. How do we use it against the covenant?"

Shiro looks at him, disgusted. "This weapon isn't a cudgel, you barbarian." He snaps, causing Roaven to take another step back, surprised. "It's something else, something much more….important. The covenant were right, this ring…it's Forerunner. Give me a second."

Takeshi speaks, continuing from where Shiro left off. "Yes, the Forerunners built this place, what they called a "fortress world," in order to...no, that can't be. Oh, those covenant fools...they must have known, there must have been signs!"

"Slow down, you're losing me." Max says, trying to comprehend the statement.

"The covenant found something buried in this ring, something terrible, and now…they're afraid." Shiro says, speaking quickly.

"Buried? Where?" Roaven asks.

Dresden continues, looking horrified. "The captain, we've got to stop the captain."

"You mean Keyes? What do you-" Ariel begins.

"The weapons cache he's looking for, it's not really-We can't let him get inside!" Takeshi interjects.

"I don't understand" Roaven says.

"There's no time. Get out of here, find the captain, and stop him." Shiro says. Roaven nods, reaching to remove Shiro. "No, we have to remain here. Go!" Roaven nods, and the three Spartans run out of the control room, to regroup with the others and find the captain. Kurioto and Marknos look up, surprised, but Roaven runs past them, beckoning to follow him gathering Hawk as well and waiting for the evac to arrive.

Echo 419, Foehammer, flies her drop ship into the snow covered canyon, lowering it and letting the Spartans board before lifting off, heading to let them get a short rest before pursuing the captain. Roaven sighs. It had been a long day.


End file.
